For almost a year, singer James Germain has lived in Fort-de-France. Exiled from his native Haiti, Martinique welcomed him with great affection. He wants to put his talent at the disposal of his adopted island.
The love story between James Germain and Martinique began in 1995. It was with the release of his album “Kafou Minwi”.
He sang “Mesi Bondye” with Malavoi. The song, written by Frantz Casséus, the father of Haitian classical guitar, appears on the album Marronage de Malavoi.
Martinique adopted me. Choosing a country to live in must be a place where you feel good.
On May 18, 2024, he left his bags in Fort-de-France. He is no longer the artist who comes for a show, stays in a hotel and dines at a restaurant.
He lives like a Foyalais. He learned the history of Martinique through its traditions such as bèlè and danmyé.
He does his shopping at the market where he meets his compatriots.
On January 1, Haiti’s Independence Day, he spent the day with members of a Haitian association. He sang.
Haitians who recognize me come and talk to me. We see the Haitians as the people who came to take the work of the Martinicans. But a Haitian wants to integrate and they are not the people who come to do nothing. What impressed me when I walked around the city was to see that the Haitians had opened shops.
James Germain thinks that Haitians are a little “closed in Martinique” because of the distrust towards them.
We don’t have the same story and I think we have to give a chance to someone who comes. These are a people who fight every day. This resistance meant that we held on despite everything.
James Germain, one of the greatest voices in Haiti, who has sung with the best artists in his country and elsewhere, wants to share his knowledge with the people of Martinique.
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He describes himself as an ambassador of the sacred rhythms of Afro-descendants.
Trained in classical singing and jazz singing, his passion remains Vodou songs.
In January 2025, as part of Fenêtre(s) sur Haïti week at Tropiques Atrium, James Germain conducted, for the second time, a master class. Each edition was sold out.
It was moving. There were some really shy people. A lady who I thought was never going to open her mouth ended up singing on the microphone for the first time.
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©Caroline Popovic
For James Germain, music must always tell a story.
Sometimes he gets up with an idea in his head. This inspiration, he says, comes from the universe. You simply have to “make yourself available” to hear it.
Singing is beautiful, but if it’s singing for the sake of singing, I will have already left this profession. For me it is a mission.
In 2018, during a collaboration with DJ Boddhi Satva, the lyrics came through singing.
James Germain lived in Haiti where he was born in 1969, in Paris, the Dominican Republic and Mali. He spent a lot of time in Benin.
I have always been an exile, because of my history. Most of us don’t know our origins, our roots. Having been to Africa, to Benin, I have the feeling of having found a part of James that was missing.
Another life begins for James Germain in Martinique. Its mission is to bring people together around the richness of Caribbean culture.
